Women's Tennis

Women's Tennis Drops 5-2 Decision to UC Santa Barbara

Feb 01, 2013

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Northern Arizona women's tennis team received gutsy three-set victories from sophomore Johanna Vang and senior Alice Pacaut, but a sluggish start to the match ultimately did the Lumberjacks in as they fell to UC Santa Barbara, 5-2, Friday. The Lumberjacks fell to 0-4 on the season.

"We competed hard but we did have that extra level of intensity that they did," said director of tennis Kim Bruno. "Everyone played better in their second sets, but Alice and Johanna were able to turn it around in their favor. They stuck in the points longer than their teammates did and that's what allowed them to win today."

The home team came out in doubles play and quickly clinched the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and 2. The Gauchos would eventually sweep all three matches, but Pacaut and fellow senior Malia Wahinepio did not make it easy as they dropped their match at No. 3 in a tiebreak, 7-6 (7-4) to UCSB's Megan Carter and Kiersten Meehan.

The Lumberjacks would not find any success early on in singles play either as they fell behind by a set in each of the six singles matches. While the Gauchos wrapped up the match with straight-set singles wins at No. 1, 4, 2 and 6, Vang and Pacaut provided the highlights for NAU on Friday. After dropping each of their respective first sets, the Lumberjack pair battled back with second set victories to force a decisive final set. There, each won a 10-point tiebreaker to prevent a Gaucho shutout.

The win at No. 5 was Pacaut's team-leading second victory of the season while Vang won her first match of the season at the No. 3 position.

The Lumberjacks will have a week off from competition for the last time this season next week as they prepare for three matches in successive days from Feb. 15-17 in Albuquerque, N.M. There, NAU will play a pair of neutral-site matches against UTEP and Pacific as well as the host New Mexico.